Environment news

• Fossilised eggs shed light on reign of pterosaurs

  30-11-2017 23:00 via bbc.co.uk
  A collection of 200 eggs gives new insights into the development of the extinct flying reptiles.
  
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• Tories must step up on animal welfare | Letters

  30-11-2017 20:12 via theguardian.com
  The League Against Cruel Sports’ Chris Luffingham suggests ways the Conservatives might start shedding their ‘nasty party’ imageThere’s a simple solution to the Conservative dilemma about being perceived as uncaring (Report, 30 November). Don’t just talk about compassion – prove it. Supporting foxhunting and the ivory trade, and recently being perceived as denying that animals have feelings, have been PR disasters for the Conservatives. Related: Tories briefed
  
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• Researchers Discover Breakthrough Process for Directly Converting Methane to Methanol

  30-11-2017 19:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  The direct oxidation of methane—found in natural gas—into methanol at low temperatures has long been a holy grail. Now, researchers at Tufts have found a breakthrough way to accomplish the feat using a heterogeneous catalyst and cheap molecular oxygen, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature by a team led by Tufts University chemical engineers.
  
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• Uncertainty Surrounds U.S. Livestock Methane Emission Estimates

  30-11-2017 19:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study of methane emissions from livestock in the United States — led by a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences — has challenged previous top-down estimates.
  
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• New Nationwide Map of Air Pollution Provides Insights Into Nitrogen Dioxide Levels Across the Country and Within Towns and Cities

  30-11-2017 19:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  EarthSense Systems – a joint venture between the University of Leicester and aerial mapping company BlueSky - has published MappAir® – the first ever high resolution nationwide map of air pollution.
  
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• Nasa footage shows lightning from ISS

  30-11-2017 18:16 via bbc.co.uk
  Nasa releases footage captured over China, Korea and Japan of "lightning, city lights and fishing boats".
  
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• Why first-past-the-post voting favours the ibis (and Donald Trump)

  30-11-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  The system works fine when there two candidates in an election but is a poor option when there are multiple ones – and it can lead to some bad results • Ben Raue is Guardian Australia’s resident psephologistThe results so far of the Guardian’s bird of the year poll have not been without controversy. The Australian white ibis, a bird that is disliked by many who encounter it, took an early lead and has maintained that lead for more than a week. While this seems like a stran
  
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• Victorian logging could trigger ecosystem collapse, researchers say

  30-11-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Modelling says there is a 92% chance mountain ash forests will not be able to support current ecosystem by 2067Decades of unsustainable logging has created an “extinction debt” in Victoria’s central highlands that will trigger an ecosystem-wide collapse within 50 years without urgent intervention from the state government, ecologists have warned.According to modelling produced by Australian National University researchers Dr Emma Burns and Prof David Lindenmayer, there is a 92%
  
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• "Climate-Neutral Living in Berlin" Kick-Off: Reducing Personal CO2 Footprints In A Living Lab

  30-11-2017 16:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  100 households, 365 days: Starting this December, private households in the German capital will be testing what climate action means in everyday life in the project "Climate-Neutral Living in Berlin" (Klimaneutral Leben in Berlin - KliB). From families with children to partnerships, flat-sharing communities or singles - for one year, the voluntary housholds will document their personal carbon footprint and learn about ways to improve their own climate balance. They will be supported by experts f
  
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• German court to hear Peruvian farmer's climate case against RWE

  30-11-2017 16:04 via theguardian.com
  Decision to hear Saul Luciano Lliuya’s case against the energy giant is a ‘historic breakthrough with global relevance’, campaigners sayA German court has ruled that it will hear a Peruvian farmer’s case against energy giant RWE over climate change damage in the Andes, a decision labelled by campaigners as a “historic breakthrough”. Farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya’s case against RWE was “well-founded,” the court in the north-western city of Hamm s
  
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• When to fish: Timing matters for fish that migrate to reproduce

  30-11-2017 15:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  It’s no secret that human activities affect fish, particularly those that must migrate to reproduce. Years of building dams and polluting rivers in some regions have left fish such as salmon struggling to return to their home streams and give birth to the next generation.
  
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• Climate Connection: Unraveling the Surprising Ecology of Dust

  30-11-2017 15:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  High in the snowfields atop the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, things are not as pristine as they used to be. Dust from the desert Southwest is sailing into the Rockies in increasing quantities and settling onto the snow that covers the peaks, often streaking the white surface with shades of red and brown.
  
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• Indigenous crops and smallscale farms: Ruth Oniang’o on Africa’s agricultural future

  30-11-2017 14:15 via theguardian.com
  The Africa Food Prize winner talks about her work with Kenya’s smallholder farmers, and how indigenous crops can be a tool in the battle against food insecurity and climate changeWhen Ruth Oniang’o was working as a nutrition researcher in 1980s Kenya, she noticed an ominous change in the country’s agricultural landscape: regions that had once provided a diversity of nutritious food crops were being turned over to cash crops like sugarcane. Grown mostly for export, these crops w
  
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• UK government 'being dragged screaming' to tackle air pollution

  30-11-2017 14:10 via theguardian.com
  MPs say ministers are showing no confidence in tackling the illegal levels of air pollution that prematurely kill an estimated 40,000 people a year Ministers have been accused of having to be “dragged screaming” to tackle illegal levels of air pollution across the UK, which kills an estimated 40,000 people a year prematurely.Neil Parish, co-chair of a parliamentary inquiry into air quality, told ministers from the Treasury, environment, transport and local government departments they
  
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• Top car manufacturers launch sustainable raw materials partnership

  30-11-2017 13:03
  Some of the world's biggest global carmakers, including BMW, Ford and Toyota, have teamed up to launch a project to address the sustainability issues in the sourcing of raw materials.
  
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• Coventry to host UK's first EV battery research centre

  30-11-2017 12:04
  The Government has confirmed that Coventry will be the home of the UK's first battery development facility, set up to help make the UK a world-leader in EV technology and innovation.
  
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• Huge weather rescue project under way

  30-11-2017 11:24 via bbc.co.uk
  After digitising old weather data from atop Ben Nevis, citizen scientists tackle a much bigger project.
  
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• Co-op and Iceland throw weight behind national plastic bottle deposit return scheme

  30-11-2017 08:50
  Supermarket giants Iceland and the Co-op have given their backing to the introduction of a nationwide bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) to help reduce plastic pollution.
  
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• Co-op and Iceland back national plastic bottle deposit return scheme

  30-11-2017 08:50
  Supermarket giants Iceland and the Co-op have given their backing to the introduction of a nationwide bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) to help reduce plastic pollution.
  
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• UK construction industry aims to halve emissions in built environment by 2025

  30-11-2017 08:32
  The Government has struck an agreement with the construction industry in a deal which aims to halve emissions in the built environment over the next eight years.
  
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• Swindon to host one of UK's largest battery projects

  30-11-2017 08:20
  Public Power Solutions, a company owned by Swindon Borough Council, has submitted a planning application to build one of the UK's largest battery storage projects.
  
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• 'Shocking' rise in rubbish washing up on UK beaches

  30-11-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Annual survey by the Marine Conservation Society records 10% rise in litter in 2017 - with much of it plasticThe rubbish washing up on the UK’s beaches is continuing to increase, rising by 10% in 2017, the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual beach clean has revealed.Much of the waste is plastic, leading the MCS to call on the government to urgently introduce a charge on single-use plastic items, such as straws, cups and cutlery. The chancellor, Philip Hammond, recently announc
  
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• Co-op and Iceland back bottle deposit scheme to reduce plastic pollution

  30-11-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Retailers in favour of setting up mandatory system in England and Wales after government sought views on ideaIceland and the Co-op have become the first supermarkets to support a bottle deposit scheme after the government sought views on the idea to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans.The retailers came out in favour of setting up a mandatory deposit return scheme (DRS) in England and Wales as the environment secretary, Michael Gove, began to review the results of a seven-week consultation on
  
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• A life of adventure and opportunity - birds find me in that happy place | Andrew Stafford

  30-11-2017 04:28 via theguardian.com
  Along with music, birds have been the magnificent, consuming obsession of my life, taking me to every corner of Australia and beyondOn Saturday morning I boarded a fishing boat on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and, along with 15 or so others, chugged more than 40 nautical miles out to sea, where the Australian continental shelf drops off into deep water. But we weren’t out there for the fish: everyone was carrying binoculars and camera gear. We were looking for pelagic seabirds –
  
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• Tamper-proof meters urgently needed to stop water theft by irrigators, report says

  30-11-2017 02:49 via theguardian.com
  New South Wales water chief says he is disappointed by a lack of progress on prosecutions and recommends a ‘no metering, no pumping’ policyModern water meters need to be rolled out as a matter of urgency in the Barwon-Darling river system and prosecutions launched against breaches, the man charged with fixing New South Wales’s water administration has warned.Immediately after the ABC Four Corners program that alleged large-scale water theft and meter tampering by some irrigator
  
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• 'Unnatural' microbe can make proteins

  30-11-2017 00:29 via bbc.co.uk
  A bacterium made with "unnatural" DNA assembles proteins - a key characteristic of a functioning organism.
  
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